And so here we are, the Christmas chart 1992. As expected all is fairly quiet with few great surprises. 5 new entries, 13 go up, 5 non-movers [way to undersell the biggest chart of the year 1992 James, well done.]

No. 40: NEW ENTRY. Brand New Heavies - Stay This Way.

The Brand New Heavies have been making subtle impressions upon the chart during the year, and this track to round of the year is a typical example of their recreation of the best aspects of Philadelhia soul [jazz-funk can be described as many things, but Philly it ain't]. In the current chart climate they tend to lose out sales wise, but for what they do there are few that do it better than this.

No. 39: NEW ENTRY. Uncanny Alliance - I Got My Education.

Hey, a rap record with a social conscience for Christmas. Radio One have loved this record and have been playing it to death. As a result it way well be a substantial new year hit.

No. 38: NEW ENTRY. Louie Louie - The Thought Of It.

A Rockwell for the nineties I suppose [in a musical sense, he wasn't Berry Gordy's son], the American smash finally makes an impression on the UK 40 helped in part I suppose by his guest appearance on the televised 'Smash Hits Awards' a few weeks ago.

No. 34: NEW ENTRY. Darlene Love - All Alone On Christmas.

'Ere, lads. I got a great idea. As it's Christmas lets release a Phil Spector Christmas record again', 'Yeah great idea Harry, why not Sleigh Ride?'. 'Nah, everyone knows that, pick a really obscure one that nobody has ever heard of before - who knows? It might just stand a chance of being the only record in the Christmas chart that is actually ABOUT Christmas.' [And although in the style of Spector actually nothing to do with him. Taken from the Home Alone 2 soundtrack and featuring the E-Street Band on musical duties. Still one of the great forgotten Christmas classics.]

No. 28: FALLER. East Side Beat - Alive And Kicking.

Suffering perhaps from being a) not a patch on the original and b) being released so soon after the reissue of the original it is not a patch on.

No. 23: CLIMBER. Boyz II Men - Motownphilly.

The highest climber this week, but watch next week for a slight surge again for the evergreen 'End Of The Road' which is still hanging around, down this week at 27.

No. 19: NEW ENTRY. Michael Bolton - Drift Away.

The only people I have ever heard admitting to liking the American soulsters music are the two assistants in my local off-licence. Elsewhere in Britain his music is regarded (perhaps a little unfairly) as MOR tripe. Here then is the second single off the 'Timeless' album which follows the first into the Top 20. Incredibly, although the song is a standard, Dobie Gray's original never made the UK charts.

No. 11: CLIMBER. Lisa Stansfield - Someday I'm Coming Back.

I would have expected this to make the 10 this week given all the promotion she has been doing. It is still selling well though, top 3 in the new year is a possiblity.

No. 10: FALLER. Madonna - Deeper and Deeper.

Down from 6, this means that there is a strong possibility this will become the first Madonna single for 5 years to miss the Top 5. Not quite the tragedy it seems though - of all the singles Madonna has ever released in Britain, only 'Lucky Star' has never made the Top 10 and even this is made up for by the fact that 'Holiday' has been there 3 times with 'Crazy For You' coming in twice.

Top 3:

Well, in actual fact it is exactly the same as last week. Charles and Eddie at 3, Michael Jackson at 2.

No. 1: 4th WEEK. Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You.

The single that apparantly will not stop selling. Last Saturday it became only the second single in the last 6 years to sell over 1 million copies. So far it has sold 4.5 million around the world, is No.1 in 9 countries and in the US is the second biggest selling single ever. Ironically when first released bookmakers only gave it a 33-1 outside chance of being No.1 for Christmas. Latest offer now is odds of 10-1 that it will beat Bryan Adams' record of 16 consecutive weeks at the top. [Well that never happened, but it looked on the cards at one point. Worth remembering that the movie itself was only released in the UK on Boxing Day, hence the single's extended run at the top of the charts well into the new year as ever more casual purchasers came on board.] With sales on an upward spiral at the moment it would be folly to rule that out at present. Who said the 7" single was dead?

And that is that for Christmas. Thankyou to all those who have mailed me over the past few months for the encouragement and thanks for these articles. I may not have the chance to post one on next weeks chart but I will make some reference to it in the analysis of the first chart of 1993.*** HAPPY CHRISTMAS ***